Digitalisation makes a huge difference in the water sector

makes a huge difference in the water sector

Sabine Dall’Omo, chief executive of Siemens Southern Africa and Eastern Africa, talks to Kirsten Kelly about digital solutions that can help manage water.

Sabine Dall’Omo, chief executive, Siemens Southern Africa and Eastern Africa

For many years, leak detection and water meter management were manual processes. But with digitalisation, a customer or utility can view their meter readings by clicking a button and a municipality or water board can be notified of a leak, abnormal deviation with a pump, or water pressure changes via an alarm or SMS.

“Water utilities and municipalities need to distribute and treat water as efficiently as possible, water treatment works (WTWs) must have as little downtime as possible, and municipalities must send out accurate and timely billing. Digitalisation can help with all of this,” says Sabine Dall’Omo, chief executive of Siemens Southern Africa and Eastern Africa.

She adds that there has been a massive leap in terms of technology since most of South Africa’s WTWs were built. “Digitalisation allows for the monitoring of an entire water distribution network. A water utility’s first step towards digitalisation would be to learn what types of technologies are available. The second step would be to reach out to various organisations that support developing countries and get feasibility studies off the ground in trialling various technologies. It is very important to have an understanding of what technologies are a ‘nice to have’ and what technologies are a ‘must have’.”

Siemens products Siemens supports the water industry with a comprehensive set of solutions for the entire water cycle. Smart water management technologies and digital management systems, combined with faster response times, could dramatically increase water reliability and significantly reduce losses.

Siemens Water (SIWA) applications are developed for the water and wastewater industry operators, and can be used to optimise energy efficiency, avoid water

(Photo credit: Ivan Bandura)

loss, and reduce the contamination of water bodies.

“On a global level, Siemens has partnerships with numerous water utilities to assist in the efficient running of water works, the measure of output and throughput, and the reduction of operating costs. We supply everything from a management system for WTWs to motors and flow meters, and can integrate our technology with pumps. We even provide simulation software that can showcase how a specific application or technology would work within a WTW. This can be used to train staff and can make the shutdown for preventative maintenance quicker, as all potential problems during the simulation have been ironed out,” explains Dall’Omo.

Water infrastructure needs to be routinely maintained in order to avoid failures and unexpected downtime. But unnecessary maintenance can also lead to high costs because of shutdowns. Digitalisation can give plant operators better access to information that will be able to detect and react to problems and predict other issues that may occur.

Water and energy As a player in both the water and energy industries, Siemens has a distinct advantage. For instance, an electricity meter and a water meter can be connected to the same Siemens management system. This would mean that both services could be billed together.

“Water and energy go hand in hand. To run a WWTW or pump water to a consumer, one needs energy. There has to be a reliable energy supply to treat and distribute water,” adds Dall’Omo.

Energy is one of the biggest input costs of the WTW. By reducing these costs, one can reduce the cost of treating water and wastewater by up to 15%. Siemens supplies digital applications that can optimise the energy consumption of a WTW.

“I believe that, as water is an essential service, all WTWs should have a redundant power system. Redundancy is important for the entire water distribution system. With a digital system, it is important to have a fallback option where people can access the operations of a plant (with relevant authorisations) manually,” states Dall’Omo. Cybersecurity Presently, the cybersecurity of water utilities in South Africa is not a huge issue. “Some digital applications have been deployed in small sections of WTWs, but it is unlikely that a cybercriminal would be able to shut off an entire water distribution system,” adds Dall’Omo.

Siemens digitally connects all water infrastructure assets into a defined cloud space called MindSphere. This is not on an open platform or server, and can be customised for a specific client with stringent security protocols. MindSphere has multilayered security that guards sensitive data, applications, operating systems and infrastructure. Cybersecurity is embedded in all Siemens applications.

Local issues “Siemens has supported a community organisation in Alexandra, close to Sandton – a wealthy urban area. When we asked them what we could assist with – what their biggest need was – they said ‘water’. So far, we have not seen any significant investment into the water industry in South Africa. There appears to be very little action in times of Covid-19, when we need water, sanitation and hygiene services the most. In my opinion, the reason why water is not moving forward is because there are too many players. South Africa has antiquated, outdated water infrastructure,” says Dall’Omo.

She adds that water education is desperately needed. Generally, Capetonians have changed their behaviour around water usage due to the water crisis experienced a few years ago. The rest of the country needs to do the same.

Trends in water Dall’Omo believes that water is the commodity of the future and will be desired by everyone. “This includes green energy. For example, if you want to produce hydrogen, you need a lot of water. There is already a necessity to efficiently manage water and, in the future, this will become even more urgent – especially because water needs to be affordable for everyone. Therefore, the digital management of water resources will become increasingly important in the future.”